Two Jordanian policemen killed near Syria border

Gunmen have killed two Jordanian policemen on patrol in the northern border town of Irbid.

Jordanian authorities said on Tuesday that the assailants attacked the police vehicle overnight in the town that lies close to the border with Syria and the southwestern Syrian city of Dara’a.

The police vehicle overturned after the driver lost control, a statement from Jordan’s general security department said.

A captain and his corporal driver were then rushed to hospital with serious injuries and later succumbed to the wounds and died, the statement said.

Jordan has beefed up security on its border with Syria over the past few years.

Foreign-sponsored conflict has gripped Syria since March 2011; and the CIA spy agency has trained militants, who operate against the Syrian government, in Jordan.

In the meantime, the Jordanian border guard has arrested dozens of people trying to cross the border, including recruits for the Takfiri Daesh terrorists attempting to join the group.

Jordan is a member of the US-led coalition conducting airstrikes against purported Daesh positions in Syria. The airstrikes have widely been criticized as ineffective with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad saying terrorists in Syria have grown in power since the military campaign was launched in September 2014.